Tsokum Festival is celebrated during the month annually in Nagaland by the Khiamgans tribe. This festival is celebrated prior to the starting of harvest. During this festival the tribal people thank God for good crops and start the harvest.
This festival is celebrated for seven days of the month. The festival begins with the people thanking God for plenty of crops and also for the well-being of their family. They pray to the Almighty for a good harvest year and prosperity throughout the year.
Rituals
- During the Tsokum Festival celebrations a number of traditional rituals are followed. There is a tradition among the tribal to sacrifice animals like mithun, buffaloes, pigs and cows and they are presented in front of the deity. The animal of sacrifice is killed from the neck and ribs of the animal. The animal is then collected in the ‘Morung’. This ‘Morung’ is a mandatory donation and this donation os followed by the activities by the men.
- During Tsokum Festival the men of the village engage themselves into the repairing of roads and bridges on the next day of the festival. Feasting and drinking together is a very common custom practiced mainly on their way back to home. The feast food includes the meat of the sacrificed animal.
- Another feature of the festival is the display of the skills and talents of the warriors. They also display their hunted trophies and remind the village people the number of men they had killed during their lifetime.
- There is a common belief among the people that by celebrating the festival they are seeking for the permission of the Almighty for a new harvest.
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